Infrared Photos Transform NYC Into a Technicolor Dreamland

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Photographers find Central Park irresistible. Everyone from selfie-snapping tourists to fine artists and what seems like every wedding photographer in the city shoots there. Paolo Pettigiani brings a refreshing point of view to the trope, transforming the stunning landscape into a salmon pink wonderland.

The Italian photographer used an infrared filter to capture the park's lush meadows, expansive ponds, and huge rocks. The clever technique provides a unique look at an iconic landscape. “My aim was to show a new colorful, and a little bit candy, vision of Central Park," he says.

Such filters block all but infrared light, which lies just beyond red on the color spectrum. You can't see it, but many digital cameras can. It renders in hues ranging from white to red to purple depending on the camera, the filter, and the processing.

Robert R. Wood pioneered infrared photography in the early 20th century, and the US military employed it for aerial reconnaissance during World War II. Many photographers have experimented with it, including Richard Mosse, a war photographer who documented the Congo in pink. That work inspired Pettigiani to experiment with infrared two years ago.

He shot *Infrared NYC *after moving to Harlem in April. Pettigiani arrived early one morning to work in the soft morning light before the crowds arrived. He wandered the park for six hours, shooting through an infrared filter on the lens of his Canon 5D Mark III. He won’t say much about his technique, but does adjust color and contrast in Photoshop to give his images that dreamy look. “I always like to look at the world from my own point of view and with different eyes," he says.